Neha Kumar,Ian Lin, Huda Iftekhar, Annie (Yian) Cheng, Thomas (Nam Gyu Kil)

As defined in Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction by Wiley Blackwell, a conflict of interest is “when a personal or professional interest, if pursued, can conflict with meeting professional obligations to an employer/clients.”

In Henry’s Daughters, three members of a family are working for different parties on the same project. We feel like such situations are inevitable, that at least temporarily, employees will find themselves working for a group opposing a family member or a close friend. These individuals must do their best to separate their professional lives from their personal lives. We think that the company can reduce the effects of a conflict of interest by making sure the employee in question is working with a team. This way, a neutral viewpoint is constantly being reinforced.

Henry’s Daughters was too short of a film to really assess the merit of the characters. Therefore, we do not know if Laura was given the project due to merit or connections. If we ever find ourselves in a position where there is a conflict of interest, we believe that we should let a trusted superior know. This way, the superior is aware of the potential conflict of interest and can ensure that you are communicating with a partner (if not a team), thus diffusing the effects of personal conflicts. If need be, the supervisor can appoint you to another project if the information discussed is particularly sensitive. If this transparency is not maintained, there can be serious questions of character and work ethic if (or rather when) others find out. However, we still need to investigate whether simple disclosure is enough to mitigate the conflict of interest at hand.